MATT James has been spotted for the first time since ex Rachael Kirkconnell spilled all about their nasty breakup on the latest Call Her Daddy podcast.
After his ex-girlfriend broke down in tears as she admitted she’s still having a tough time processing the split, the Bachelor star seemed upbeat as he got in some retail therapy in photos exclusively obtained by The U.S. Sun.
On Tuesday, Matt, 33, was seen shopping at Lululemon and other retailers on a frigid day in New York City.
He bundled up in a black puffer coat, sweatpants, grey gloves along with a baseball cap and tennis shoes.
The food vlogger didn’t appear too downcast as he was seen smiling throughout his walk after exiting the store.
It seemed Matt was on an upbeat phone call as he smirked while he was talking with his Apple AirPods in while strolling down Manhattan.
Matt’s lighthearted attitude on his first outing since the breakup is a drastic change from the difficult time Rachael, 28, is experiencing – which she chronicled on the latest episode of Call Her Daddy.
‘I’M FREAKING OUT’
On the latest episode of the famous podcast, Rachael chatted with host Alex Cooper about meeting Matt on The Bachelor and how their romance evolved.
They then got to their recent split, which saw Rachael overcome with emotion as she broke down in tears and spoke about the unexpected announcement Matt made.
“I don’t even think you should post a breakup announcement the same day you break up,” Rachael said while choking back tears.
“But let alone you know not even give me a warning that you’re doing it,” she added of Matt’s controversial Instagram post with a bizarre caption that announced their split to the world.
She then revealed how she saw Matt’s Instagram post just as she was about to take off on a 12-hour flight.
“We’re literally getting ready to take off and my phone blows up it’s one of my best friends,” Rachael recalls, explaining how her pal had sent her a “bunch of question marks.”
“As soon as I saw that I’m like ‘Oh my gosh how does she know’ and then she text me again and said ‘I saw Matt’s post is this real life’ and that’s how I found out that he posted.
Rachael Kirkconnell speaks out and confirms she was blindsided when Matt James shared breakup post same day they split
“So then literally the plane is taking off and I see his post and that’s it, I don’t have any service or anything for like the next 12 hours so I’m freaking out.
“I’m laying in bed and I want him to comfort me but I’m but he’s the one that hurt me and I’m so mad at him.
“But I’m also still like so sad and of course, I still love him, so yeah, just a lot of emotions to work through,” she emotionally confessed.
As The U.S. Sun previously reported, Rachael was not told about the bizarre breakup announcement before Matt posted the Instagram caption.
“Everyone is confused and still trying to get to the bottom of what happened but first and foremost, they’re supporting Rachael and making sure she’s okay.
“Her family didn’t even know they were fully broken up. Rachael is being pretty quiet right now but I know she was blindsided by Matt’s post.
“She didn’t know he was going to do that and definitely wouldn’t have approved of it if she did.
“And she thinks it’s just as weird as everyone else does, she’s humiliated that’s how the news came out,” the insider said.
Past Bachelor leads
The hit ABC reality dating series began in the early 2000s.
- Alex Michel (2002)
- Aaron Buerge (2002)
- Andrew Firestone (2003)
- Bob Guiney (2003)
- Jesse Palmer (2004) (Current Bachelor franchise host)
- Byron Velvick (2004)
- Charlie O’Connell (2005)
- Travis Lane Stork (2006)
- Lorenzo Borghese (2006)
- Andy Baldwin (2007)
- Brad Womack (2007 and 2011)
- Matt Grant (2008)
- Jason Mesnick (2009)
- Jake Pavelka (2010)
- Ben Flajnik (2012)
- Sean Lowe (2013)
- Juan Pablo Galavis (2014)
- Chris Soules (2015)
- Ben Higgins (2016)
- Nick Viall (2017)
- Arie Luyendyk Jr. (2018)
- Colton Underwood (2019)
- Peter Weber (2020)
- Matt James (2021)
- Clayton Echard (2022)
- Zach Shallcross (2023)
- Joey Graziadei (2024)
- Grant Ellis (2025)
Just hours after gushing about his relationship and even sharing future plans to propose, Matt, 33, posted a photo with Rachael, 28, on the set of The Bachelor when he was the lead in 2021.
To add even more personal sentiment, he even tagged the resort, Nemacolin in Farmington, Pennsylvania, where the duration of season 25 was filmed due to the pandemic.
The food vloggers caption is what raised questions with fans: “Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts.
“Give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding.
“Shower our friends and family with kindness and love to comfort us. And remind us that our Joy comes from you, Lord.”
